5th Grade Weekly Update
Here's what's going on at O.C. Taylor!
Week of September 9th - 13th
ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!
*** UPDATE TO CAFETERIA VISITATION EXPECTATIONS***
Moving forward, parents and visitors can only sit with their child during lunch. Students cannot invite a classmate to eat with them and their guests.
Per Mrs. Bailey, for safety reasons, only the guest and child can sit at the visitor table.
If your child has received a planner, please send your $5 as soon as possible to either their homeroom teacher or Ms. Gene in the office - thank you! We appreciate it!
TIGER TIME
We will use our personalized learning time to practice skills in small groups. Students will choose if they wish to research, code, or write creatively. Here is the format moving forward so we can be as consistent as possible:
First 15 mins - Spelling
Next 15 mins - Typing Club
Last 30 mins - work on their self-selected Passion Project. Students will create research questions and produce a presentation for the class on their chosen topic to share their learning.
As we cover more material, we will eventually add in some math/science options to the student choice board. Teachers will also be using this time for any necessary small group remediation and clearing up of misconceptions from the day's lessons.
We will NOT have any visits to the campus Science Lab on Thursdays as the space is occupied. We do ask that on lab days, students wear closed-toe shoes and those with longer hair bring something to pull it back out of their face while we conduct our labs. Although we have aprons, we recommend not wearing brand new or favorite clothing on lab days!
***Taylor Tiger Mascot tryouts: all interest forms DUE FRIDAY, SEPT 6th because auditions will be held MONDAY, SEPT 9th after school
Taylor Tiger Choir
All 4th and 5th graders are invited to attend!
We meet every Thursday from 2:55-4:00 p.m. in the OCT Music room.
HUMANITIES (Reading, Writing, & Social Studies)
This week we will continue reading the book Home of the Brave. This will be a whole-class read-aloud. We are working on students gaining deeper meaning of their reading through writing. Students will be practicing this skill during their independent reading time.
Students will also work on reading their personal selection novel for their upcoming Book Talk, due Oct. 4.
Reading Strategy of the Week:
Writing about Reading
**Student notes for each class period are kept within their individual reading notebook. If there are questions regarding strategies, please refer to daily class notes. Students should also be writing about their reading each night!
Spelling: two spelling activities and spelling test on Sept 13th
Writing:
We will be reviewing writing skills through various fun activities throughout the week.
SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue working through Unit 1 which covers map skills and geography. The students will be working through a Hyperdoc with a partner to explore the learning content for this week. Students will be expected to take notes in their SS notebooks, as well as in Google Drive.
Final Map will be due Sept 18.
Final Writing will be due Sept 20th.
Social Studies “At Home” Work:
Students will have their first States, Capitals, and Abbreviations test over the New England & Mid-Atlantic States (11 total) on Friday, September 6) A great way to practice this at home would be to have your child look at a blank U.S. map and point out the states/capital/abbreviation that will be covered on each test. TESTS BUILD UPON EACH OTHER, meaning that this week’s region will be on the next test.
MATH
This week we will be starting the place value unit. Working with numbers and decimals to the billions and thousandths. Students will be working on writing numbers in all the different forms. We will also include rounding, comparing, and ordering decimals.
*******Pleeeeeeeease encourage your child to practice their multiplication math facts nightly. This will tremendously benefit them in 5th grade math! Flash cards, apps, anything will help!*******
SCIENCE
Students will analyze how certain substances will maintain their physical properties when combined into mixtures and solutions.
Other skills will include learning various methods to separate mixtures and solutions.
We will also be analyzing the effects that heating and cooling have on these mixtures and solutions.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES
Sept. 9: Mascot Tryouts 3:00-5:00 - after school
Sept. 12: Rock Out 6:00-8:00
Sept 17 - UNITS 1-2 Math assessment covering data analysis and place value
Sept. 23: NO SCHOOL!!! Professional Development Day for GCISD staff
Sept 25 - Science Units 1-3 Unit Test covering physical properties of matter and mixtures/solutions.
Book Talk, due Oct. 4
*Principal Roundtable discussions regarding new dismissal procedures will be scheduled for October*
Test dates at a glance:
Map test #2: Sept. 20 (Northeast + Southeast States)
Map test #3: Oct. 4 (Northeast, Southeast +Midwest States)
Map test #4: Oct. 18 (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest + Southwest States)
Map test #5: Nov. 1 (FINAL all 50 states test!)
Teacher Contact Info
sharon.fiffik@gcisd.net - 5th grade Humanities (Reading/Writing/Social Studies)
@OCTFIFFIK
morgan.epperson@gcisd.net - 5th grade Math/Science
@MsEppersonOCT
amber.fields@gcisd.net - 5th grade Math/Science
@OCTFields
michelle.watkins@gcisd.net - 5th grade Resource - all content
@OCTWatkins
tiffany.daggercummin@gcisd.net - 5th grade Humanities (Reading/Writing/Social Studies)
@OCTDagger
Location: 5300 Pool Road, Colleyville, TX, USA
Phone: 817-305-4870